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Sen. Jim DeMint: No More Short-Term Spending Bills

By: Robert Bluey (Diary)  |  March 3rd, 2011 at 03:13 PM  | 

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Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) wasn’t among the handful of Republicans who opposed the two-week continuing resolution yesterday. But don’t count on his vote for another short-term spending bill.

“If it wasn’t just two weeks, I wouldn’t have voted for it,” DeMint said on Fox News. “And, frankly, this is the last time I’m going to give them a two-week extension.”

DeMint’s decision to oppose another short-term spending bill — assuming there is one — could solidify a bloc of conservatives in the Senate. Already, five Republicans voted against the two-week continuing resolution: Sens. Mike Crapo (Idaho), Orrin Hatch (Utah), Mike Lee (Utah), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Jim Risch (Idaho).

As more conservatives stand their ground, it could force a showdown on H.R. 1, the House-passed bill that cuts $61 billion in spending and defunds Obamacare. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has refused to bring the bill to the floor or offer an alternative.

“We need to pass the budget for this year to make sure the government is funded,” DeMint said. “And then we need to get on to serious reforms of the government that cut the cost of the things we do here.”

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COMMENTS

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  • KC

    It’s time for Republicans to take a stand.

    If Reid won’t call a vote on the $61B spending reduction plan, then shut down Government.

    • http://spendenforcer.com/ vortigernpendragon

      I just want spending slashed. This deficit spending is bleeding America dry.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vkTQErQWko

      • YnotNOW

        If we have to keep debating “yet another” CR to keep the government running, it keeps the focus on relatively minor cuts in the short term, and prevents moving on to the longer-term cuts needed to curb future spending. Like entitlement reform, consolidation of agencies, etc.

        Get this FY funded (with the relatively minor $61 Billion cuts), and move on to the real substance of reform!

    • The_Gadfly

      for every two week extension.

      My gut reaction was they need to pass the real budget. But that’s influenced by two personal things. First off, I’m now a contractor which means until they pass a budget I’m always going to be two weeks away from living on my savings for an indeterminate amount of time. Secondly, my roommate is an actual Fed who works in an R&D branch for the military. CRs are poison to R&D because they continue at last years funding for each project. The whole point of R&D is that some projects are spinning up while others are spinning down. And while the country as a whole suffers from the missallocated R&D money, the two of us living on savings will be in better shape than others in the country who are out of a job and looking for work. Well, at least for a few weeks and even after that we’ll only be in the same boat.

      When Krauthammer pointed out that the 4 billion every two weeks works out to the $100 billion promised over the course of a year I realized it might work out better than the current plan. Also, by passing the cuts in smaller chunks, it is easier to peel of Dems to support any given proposal. The other thing to remember is that the debt ceiling is coming into play shortly too. If Republicans play that one as a 2 week or 30 day revolver with spending cuts attached to each one they can speed up the budget cutting process. Think of it as killing spending one paper cut at a time.

      I don’t expect it to last because I expect the Dems to eventually realized the corner they’ve painted themselves into. At which point I’m fully expecting them to go into fleebagger mode in DC. But I don’t see how that gains them anything with voters for 2012. They’ve gotten themselves into a real pickle. I’m really happy I’m not one of them trying to figure out how to get out of it.

      • The_Gadfly

        As Krauthammer also pointed out,,Coburn’s GAO report gives the GOP plenty of ammunition for expanding the size of those biweekly budget cuts on items identified by a non-partisan agency as “waste, fraud, or abuse.”

        • Sam Gamgee

          I agree with this. If we can get major cuts in one big step, that’s ideal. But if we have to do it one step at a time, that’s OK with me — as long as we keep going. Let’s make the Democrats be the ones to say “no.” If they refuse to go along with a CR that only has another $4-5 billion in cuts, then it’s easier to make them take the blame for a government shut down.

  • Brian Darling

    Why did he vote for the 2 week extension yesterday? He should have voted with Paul and Lee. Is Jim DeMint going squishy on us? I hope not.

    • powertothepeople

      get real!

      • Bill S

        He forgot the sarcasm font.

        • powertothepeople

          as I would hope years of excellent service would outweigh a “bad” vote in a persons eyes.

    • acat

      And I’ll just remember to add the tag.

      (DeMint is the awesome in the Senate – want to see him succeed Reid)
      (ACU ratings are useful for lining my litter box and not much else)

      Mew

      • acat

        My &ltsarc&gt tag vanished. How rude.

        Mew

  • Brian Darling

    Bill S is correct. I was trying to be funny. I disagree with DeMint’s vote, but can’t ding him for one vote.
    Jim DeMints is still a great American and a true patriot. Love the guy and wish he would jump into the presidential race.
    If he declares for President soon, then I can forgive this one squishy vote.

    • Scope

      Bill S gives you a pass that you were just kidding that DeMint is a squish. You add this comment that you were just trying to be funny. Then you go right back at DeMint for his bad vote because he didn’t take the position of Paul and Lee. I was always under the impression that the Heritage Foundation was a Reagan supporting site, and has done great work with the policies of Reagan. If I am not mistaken, Paul and Lee are both Libertarians, elected for no other reason than for their fiscal policies, that are not even feasible in the current Congress. To call DeMint a squish, whether in jest or not, is so wrongheaded it’s in itself pathetic. It sure seems that some are trying to embarass DeMint into what some want him to be, when he has already broken that conservative ground before. I see it as DeMint being co-opted and forced by a few.

      • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

        There’s a massive conspiracy on this site to cover up for Brian Darling’s secret quest to badmouth Jim DeMint.

        You shouldn’t stop by putting comments here, because it’s obvious we’re going to covertly edit your words to keep the conspiracy hidden.

        You should go to MSNBC and report the large-scale fraud going on at RedState. You have a big scoop, Scope. You’re the next Woodward.

        • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

          just how difficult it’s been for the Moderators at Redstate to resist the pressure from “I” the BandwidthSatan™ in my continuing obsessive demands to ban the Scoper.

          And BTW, let Moe know that I’ve acquired the lenders that hold the mortgages on your homes and the notes on your cars. If I don’t see some response to my banning demands they’ll all be mine.

          No more Mr.NiceGuy!

          • Scope

            coulda fooled me. BTW, how’s that website goin’ for ya. Still don’t see any action there.

          • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

            And, pretty much without exception, people who can perform rational thought like me a lot. And 908 Straight St! is going just fine. It gets a lot more hits than you do.

            Have a nice evening with your fantasies.

          • Scope

            has been removed from your dictionary. Seems that someone here recently likened you to an alligator. I would say that many here don’t “like” you, they just are scared that you will come after them also. Intimidation has always been one of your “tools.” Like the night you posted your little cute bunny to me that said “Go Away and Die Now.” Cute. I surely wasn’t the first on your hit list, and, many others that follow me here will find the same. Again, you have chased so many people away from RS you surely hold the record. There isn’t anything nice about that.

          • aesthete

            Truly, mbecker’s tyrannical regime on RS is yet another in the long saga of man’s inhumanity to man. Ukrainian peasants who suffered at the hands of Stalin hardly know the sheer terror that mbeck and his heavy-handed intimidation techniques have inflicted on RS. Why, just the other day I briefly contemplated badmouthing ‘becker, when I remembered that he still had my family locked in his basement. Similar things can be said of the moderators: oh, the things that ‘becker would do to Moe Lane’s Firefly Blurays if ever Moe aimed his snark ‘becker’s way are unspeakable on a family site, to say nothing of what would happen to RMJ’s collection of Led Zepplin records and Neil’s iPhone.

            There is truly no phrase more apt than “hit job” to describe mbeck’s posts, and no word that describes his presence at RS better than “intimidation”. I applaud you for choosing words that so accurately describe the situation. I also commend you for your bravery in posting this truth, where lesser souls would not have: whatwith the omnipresent Happy Bunny lurking in the corner like a latter-day Big Brother, it must have been a harrowing experience to post such a comment.

          • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

            Next week, after he puts on some weight.

        • http://www.thejoyofreason.com Greg Garrison

          This is, after all, RedState… You know. Ahem, RedState. It’s a communist plot. Conservatism is cover, and it’s an in-your-face conspiracy. That’s obvious. The name kind of gives it away. Geez.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com Repair_Man_Jack

            it was LedState. Being a big Metal Fan for most of my misspent adolescence, I was hooked and never left.

          • http://www.thejoyofreason.com Greg Garrison

            I linked to a video last night that you might like, RMJ. It’s the Michael Shermer vid at the bottom of my newest entry. The Zep part starts around the nine minute mark. Very cool video.

            http://www.redstate.com/thejoyofreason/2011/03/03/virgins-psychics-carnivores-conspiracies/

          • aesthete
          • http://theminorityreportblog.com Repair_Man_Jack

            My life had this empty place, you see.

        • Scope

          about conspiracies. So, if someone says that it is ludicrous to call DeMint a squish, that equates to a conspiracy? Seems that there is some paranoia going on here. It is not a conspiracy to see what is in front of your face. To say DeMint is a sell out is a conspiracy, no?

  • 6eorge Jetson

    I’m OK with it.

    The Republicans have even given the Dems an extension. But it’s time to pass the real thing that the people voted for in November.

    And don’t let the MSM’s marketing campaign fool you. Remember that big comeback that the Dems were making in October?

    Anyone remember a MSM outlet employing “Buyer’s Remorse” in regards to Barack Obama when his poll numbers were crashing?

  • melbedewy

    As long as it’s $2 billion a week, every week, let the progressives die the death of a thousand cuts.
    Main thing is NO bailouts to the states and the public employee unions.
    No way.
    No how.

    • carolina

      One or two more 2-week CR’s with reductions is the most that should be ‘allowed’ until they force the dem hand.
      2012 is going to be the REAL battle – with a REAL opportunity to make some serious spending cuts.

    • Diogenes314

      Of course, 61 Billion, 100 Billion or 200 Billion in cuts isn’t going to do anything to make a dent in the deficit unless we get the economy growing. The passage of H.R. 4 (rescinding 1099 reporting for Obamacare) tody will probably do more for the defecit than any cuts that get approved.

  • edwyrd

    targeted cuts
    1) planned parenthood
    will the dems shut the gov down to defend gov funded abortion?
    BANG! stiff RIGHT to the political jaw.
    2) defund obamacare
    will they shut the gov down to defend obamacare?
    BANG! another stiff RIGHT to the political jaw.

    time to start the attack. we got’em in the ring. they have to fight or fall. my hope is both!

    • claude5

      Threatening shutdowns on those two issues would split the Dems. If the GOP would just get a spine it would have a chance but…

  • carolina

    (article at politico)
    This is going to be ‘difficult’, long, and painful.
    Worst bit of news (to me) was the observation that the GOP is cutting programs, but NOT govt employee headcount. That is a wasted futile effort, imo. No doubt they don’t want to be accused of increasing unemployment, but I think folks expect reductions in govt headcount.

    • Diogenes314

      First get this bill out of the way, then focus on more important matters-like deregulation and the small buisness tax credit. An expanding economy and lower unemployment will enable us to go after reducing the number of employees in the next budget (and increased revenues and shrinking deficitwon’t hurt).

      Of course we need entitlement reform or no amount of discresionary spending cuts are going to matter.

      • The_Gadfly

        but don’t confuse that with making it easier to cut the size of government. Part of how we wound up here is that Reagan’s programs to grow the economy enabled libs to expand the size and scope of government while the expansion was occurring. The same thing will happen again.

        • Diogenes314

          No, it won’t. Pelosi is a raving lunatic, but she’s no Tip O’Neal. And Reagan never had a GOP House to work with or the TEA party and new media to counterbalance the MSM.

          • The_Gadfly

            was that despite the fact that there was no new media, he managed to cut through misinformation better than the new media does today.

            It wasn’t O’Neil who did in the Reagan Revolution, it was Bush Sr, Bill Clinton, and to some extent W along with their respective congresses, many of which were Republican.

          • Diogenes314

            I never really got how a bankrupt company was giving out dividends to begin with. As far as the Clinton years, it all went downhill when Hastert and DeLay took over from Gingrich and decided to put politics ahead of policy. As far as GWB, he really was what he always said he was-too much of a uniter, not enough of a divider.

  • Adjoran

    the one favoring CRs to keep cutting is that cuts is cuts. I was down wid dat, Homey, but DeMint makes a good point: the only reason we are having to deal with the current year budget at all is that the Pelosi-Reid Congress was composed of worthless, good-for-nothing layabouts who couldn’t be bothered to perform even the most fundamental function of their job, and failed to pass a budget.

    Well, folks, there’s a new Sheriff in town, and funding spa visits for union leaders, plastic surgery for Nancy Pelosi, and Remedial Charm School for Sheila Jackson-Lee are as dead as an Obama promise. There’s too much premium-priced poop in the pipeline already, and we need to get about cleaning up the place. We can’t do that if we’re tying up the Congress 24/7 debating the next two-week CR just because you socialist bloodsuckers don’t want to defend your drunken spending sprees.

    Assume the position, Bucko – you know it. No more Mr. Nice Guy, from me OR Jim DeMint.

  • KC

    The passage of the $4B spending reduction bill is being hailed as a “symbolic” victory for Republicans because they snookered the Dems into making cuts.

    Big deal.

    Cutting full-year spending by one-tenth of one percent isn’t going to keep the country from going bankrupt. Symbolic victories won’t get us to a balanced budget.

    Mr. Speaker: the Tea Party is watching you.